What We Didn't Know
by Chocobubbles
Summary: Speedy and Aqualad find themselves snooping in Bumblebee's room.


I'm having a lot of fun tweaking around with Bumblebee's history. I went on Wikipedia (I know, I'm a major NERD, right??) and researched the real DC Bumblebee's history, and I know she was a researcher at STAR Labs...or something. Anyway, that means she must've been smart, right? I pretty much made up the rest of the stuff though...but don't complain about the cheerleading thing. For all those pep-haters out there, chill out, would ya? And don't flame me for it. If you don't like it, don't read it.

Oh, and I'd also like to thank all those great people who reviewed! Sorry, this Author's Note is really long, but whenever I see reviews I feel the need to give gratitude to those people who give them! I know on my homepage I say whether I get them or not doesn't matter to me, but reading them still makes writing another story that much more fun for me. So, I hope you enjoy this one, I like it a lot : )

P.S I added major Speedy & Aqualad action in this one (no not like that : P) because I felt I was neglecting the poor fish face. I promise to put in more Mas y Menos in further stories too (I'm actually pretty good in Spanish at school). Oh, and sorry if I offend anyone with the whole "gay" thing. I mean nothing by it.

* * *

"Speedy, are you sure we're supposed to be in here?" asked Aqualad nervously.

"Of course we're not," replied Speedy, "BEE-otch would electrocute us if she found us snooping around in here. That sucks for you I guess, 'cause of the whole 'water conducts electricity' thing."

"Oh, okay then…" muttered Aqualad, retreating a few steps closer to the doorway, "than why _are_ we in here?"

"Because she confiscated my mirror and refuses to give it back."

Speedy shuffled through a pile of magazines sitting on her bedside table.

"God, think you have enough _Cosmo?_" Speedy mumbled sarcastically into the air as if Bumblebee could actually hear him, "Ugh, this place is a dump."

"Are you kidding?" said Aqualad incredulously, "This room is the neatest, most organized, sanitary place in the whole Tower."

"Exactly…it's too damn _clean._ How can she find anything in here? Freak…"

Aqualad rolled his eyes, following his disgruntled teammate across the room, who's shaggy pink carpet felt soft and fluffy under his feet as they walked.

"Why am I even here?" he asked, since he really couldn't see what difference his presence made in the finding of Speedy's beloved mirror.

"I often ask myself that same question." replied Speedy. Aqualad frowned languidly, not feeling like being part of the same old irritating routine he usually shared with his partner. If he was risking being turned into a fish stick by being in Bee's room, then he wanted answers.

"So..?" he grunted impatiently.

"I'm going to let you in on a little secret," replied Speedy quietly, "I'm not exactly BEE-otch's favorite person."

Aqualad snorted, "No, _really?_ When you'd figure that out? Somewhere between, 'Hey, why don't you shut your yap and make me a sandwich?' and 'I swear, I wasn't peeping!'?"

"Yeah well…you get the point."

He smirked, "Still, what do you need _me_ for?"

"Well, if she catches us, I can at least count on you to make up something to get us off the hook. She loves you."

He raised his eyebrow amusedly, "Really?"

"You mean you haven't noticed? Girls go gah-gah over you and your sissy-ass hair."

He stroked his long ebony tresses reflexively, "Long hair is common in Atlantis."

"Feh, a likely story. Hey, it's cool with me if you swing that way, but I'm just telling you BEE-otch would be really disappointed if you decided to come out of the closet anytime soon."

"I'm _not_ gay!" huffed Aqualad angrily.

"Sure you aren't, Waterboy." said Speedy simply, nearly knocking over Bumblebee's red lava lamp as he dug through her dresser drawers.

"I'm not!" he said, "Besides, it's _you_ she likes."

"Psh, are you totally stupid? You practically just said for yourself that she hates me."

"She doesn't hate you; she just thinks you're a pain. We all do. Anyway, it's so obvious she likes you, just look at the way she argues with you all the time."

"Hate to burst your bubble fish-face," remarked Speedy callously, "but that's usually because she disagrees with me."

"Yeah, but just think back—remember yesterday when she came into the living room and started blowing up at you?"

"Yeah…"

"It was because you had your feet on the table, and I put mine on the table all the time!"

"And that just reinforces the point I'm trying to make: she loves you and despises me. Go back to first grade, moron."

"Ugh, you are so ignorant!" complained Aqualad, "Bumblebee is a _girl!_"

"Good Job Aqualad! You finally noticed the boobs!"

He blushed, "I—er…didn't mean it like that! Haven't you ever noticed that girls act all annoyed and short-tempered with a guy whenever they like him? I mean, just look at Raven and Beast Boy."

"Yeah, but Robin and Starfire—"

"Starfire's an alien, so she doesn't count."

"Whatever, I still don't see your point."

He sighed, "Bumblebee acts all huffy when she's around you because you drive her crazy—because she has a _crush_ on you!"

"What, are you the chick expert or something?"

"For you, yes. Aren't you thankful?"

"No." Speedy stated bluntly. It was obvious that by the looks of it, he was starting to want to tear the place apart, and Aqualad's ridiculous talk about Bumblebee liking him definitely wasn't helping the situation either. After all, that's exactly what it was—ridiculous, nonsensical, improbable…

…right?

He resorted to tearing off her bed sheets and tossing about her pillows, trying to check to see if the mirror was under them. However, he had no luck, and stomped to the other side of the room where her stereo was. He checked under her CD rack, but it wasn't there.

"Damn it, where'd she put that thing?" asked Speedy irritably.

"Heck if I know," shrugged Aqualad, "did you check her closet?"

He motioned to the large double-doors located on the opposite wall. Speedy shook his head and walked towards them, sliding them aside and staring back in awe.

"Wow." he said.

"Ditto." remarked Aqualad, black eyes widening at the sight of racks and racks of clothes stretching as far as they could see.

"When does she have the time to buy all this junk?" said Speedy, "She always seems too busy with 'important business'. She probably hits the mall every time she says she's going out on duty, the little sneak…"

"I do admit," agreed Aqualad, "I didn't even know she had all this stuff. She never wears any of it."

"I wonder, on what occasion would she wear _this?_" He pulled out something that looked like an evening gown at first glance, but as Aqualad scrutinized the leathery texture and extremely short hemline, the term "bondage scrap" came to mind. He reddened at the sight of the strapless, black and pink striped dress, and Speedy smirked erotically as his eye caught another thing stashed away on the top shelf. He pulled down a pair of long, white, spiky-heeled boots.

"Now, doesn't this look like the _perfect_ outfit?" he asked, shoving them and the dress in his face.

"Speedy," said Aqualad shakily, pushing the items out of the way, "we shouldn't be messing with her clothes."

"Chill out, would ya?" said Speedy, throwing them back in the closet, "Well would you look at _this_ little number!"

He dangled from his forefinger a very thin red thong littered with white polka-dots. Aqualad felt near to fainting as Speedy teased it around his head, letting it barely brush his jaw-line. _Quit picturing her in it!_ he screamed in his head as the flush grew in his cheeks.

"Goodness…"gulped Aqualad, as he felt his eyes starting to roll backwards. Speedy was grinning like a cat as he pulled out the raciest thing of them all: a very lacy, very _sheer_, red bra.

"Now _this_," said Speedy, relishing in the sight of the barely-there lingerie, "thisis hot!"

"Stop that!" cried Aqualad, snatching the thing out of his hands.

"Hey, what the—!" all of a sudden his eyes narrowed, and he smiled devilishly at his flustered teammate, "Oh, I get it…"

"Get what?" questioned Aqualad suspiciously.

"Oh…nothing, except for the fact that you want it all for yourself."

"Want _what?_"

"The bra. I bet you want to keep it and snuggle it at night, while you dream of BEE-otch dancing on your—"

"Shut up!" growled the other boy furiously, his face now resembling a tomato. He had both hands on his ears now, trying to drown out Speedy's dirty words.

"Hey it's cool Waterboy, I mean this proves you're not gay after all!"

"I SAID SHUT—"

Speedy put an arm around him, slapping his hand down on Aqualad's mouth.

"Shut your face, you idiot," hissed Speedy, "you want her to hear us?"

Aqualad ripped his hand off angrily, "You were the one—"

"Hey, what's that?" He cut him off abruptly, bending forward farther and hoisting something up. When he turned around, Aqualad could see he was holding a large cardboard box in his arms, filled to the brim with papers, framed photographs and various other paraphernalia. They walked back out of her closet Speedy dumped the contents of the box out on the floor.

"Be careful!" yelled Aqualad.

"A little too late for that warning, don't you think?" said Speedy, plopping down on the floor and sitting Indian-style on the carpet. Aqualad looked quite annoyed, but joined him anyway. Speedy was going through several glossy looking diplomas, all bearing large cursive writing.

"_National Honor Society Citizenship Award Presented to: Karen Beecher…Junior Forensics Award Presented to: Karen Beecher…Presidential Academic Excellence Award Presented to: Karen Beecher…_Woah_…_"

"You said it," said Aqualad as Speedy read, "and take a look at this."

He held up a large picture with a group of smiling teenage girls on it. As Speedy looked closer he saw it was actually a Cheerleading team, with Bumblebee in the center, holding up a couple of blue and yellow pompoms.

"She was head cheerleader?" inquired Speedy in amazement, "No way!"

"Yeah, and she has the trophies to prove it." said Aqualad, displaying a shiny gold trophy, "_Regional Cheerleading Competition, 1__st__ Place: Awarded to Karen Beecher and the Cougars_."

"Get out!" said Speedy in disbelief, "She never told us any of this!"

Aqualad felt the blush coming back to his face again as he held up Bumblebee's old cheerleading outfit.

"Gah…" he said, feeling blood drip down his nose.

"Nice," said Speedy, eyeing the skimpy looking blue and yellow getup with salacity, "I'd kill to see her in that again."

"Doubt she'd put it on." said Aqualad, stuffing the outfit back into the bottom of the box.

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it," said he said, "she never talks about her past before Brother Blood, all this stuff has been stowed away in the back of her closet…this obviously brings back bad memories.

Speedy paused before he let out an intrigued, "Hm."

He picked up the framed photograph again, staring at the happy girls behind the glass. They were all cheering, most likely celebrating a win for their basketball team. He gazed at the younger Bumblebee—she was so happy…so bright…so _carefree_. He looked at her, half-in the air while she was being supported on one of the player's burly shoulders. Her pompoms were raised above her head, there were yellow ribbons dangling from her hair puffs, and the sparkling smile she wore seemed to light up the whole picture.

And she had no wings.

"Let's put this stuff away now, Aqualad."

The other boy looked oddly at his teammate, wondering why he hadn't plastered on a crude nickname instead of his real title. His tone was sober and so unfamiliar.

"What?" asked Aqualad, "You serious?"

"Yeah, it's bumming me out." said Speedy.

"Well…okay then." Aqualad started to put back another photograph when Speedy hurriedly said, "Wait!"

He froze and looked up, "Yeah?"

"Who the hell is _that?_" he pointed to the tall boy in the photograph. He had curly dark hair and strong looking features. His arm was leisurely draped around Bumblebee's shoulders, who was grinning cheekily.

"Boyfriend probably," replied Aqualad, "or I guess ex-boyfriend."

"He's ugly." stated Speedy plainly. Aqualad leered slyly.

"Jealous, are we?"

"_No_." retorted Speedy.

"I dunno, it looks like she seems pretty in love with him…"

"Yeah right," said Speedy, "he looks like a jackass. Probably broke her heart, the bastard…"

"No need to lose your temper, Speedy."

"What-_ever_."

"Now you sound gay."

Speedy scowled, and grabbed the photo from him, then threw it into the box. Looking around the floor in front of them, he picked up a blue book. Leafing through the pages, he skimmed through all of the colorful photographs.

"She's in almost everyone of these. She must've been pretty popular." he said, looking at a picture of her posing at the front of the stairwell in what he guessed was her old high school. There was also one of her working at a lab station, beaming while she held a test-tube in one hand and a sheet of paper in the other. _Funny_ thought Speedy, _I never thought of her as Chem Whiz_.

"Looks like she was quite the overachiever," said Aqualad, pointing to another picture of her holding up a first place trophy; behind her hung a banner that read, "Annual Purewater Science Fair"

"She's just like the girl I would've chased after at my old high school…" said Speedy, his tone less playful and more solemn, "pretty, popular, and perfect."

"Now if she could've just been the star of the swim team…" remarked Aqualad dreamily.

Speedy flipped to the back page, where all the signatures were. All of the ones she received were either happy farewells, gracious congrats, or desperate cries for attention.

_Love you Karen!!! Can't wait for another great Year! XOXOXO –Kelly_

_Awesome job this year, you rock Karen! Love, Alex_

_Hey Karen, look me up sometime during the summer, we can catch a movie!—Darrel_

Those were just some of the many scrawled Jonh-Hancocks on the page. Speedy finally snapped the yearbook shut and tossed it back in the box. Together, he and Aqualad cleaned up the mess of her old things and put them back in her closet. They shut the doors and stood there for seconds, exchanging glances on what they had just done. They had snooped, yes, but somehow, they felt a weird sense of closure. Maybe someday, if they weren't feeling as piss-your-pants scared of Bumblebee as usual, they'd confront her about it.

"It's really sort of…sad," said Aqualad awkwardly, "there was a reason she didn't want us to see it. We kind of…totally invaded her privacy."

"How come she never told us about that stuff?" asked Speedy, feeling like he had been ripped off, "She goes on about STAR labs and Brother Blood, but she never—"

"Do you ever talk about life before Green Arrow?"

Speedy was taken aback, but replied with a somber, "No."

He hardly ever talked about his life with Green Arrow—it made him too nostalgic to think about him. The stuff before him…he didn't even like being reminded of it for a second.

"She's different from us, Speedy," said Aqualad, "you don't have any powers, and I was born in a place where I was considered a normal person. She got her wings when she was in _high school_. Think about it."

Speedy thought about what he had seen: the image of her looking like she was queen of the world in all those photos. There was no doubt she had been loved by all her classmates, and if she had hidden all of those things in a dark corner of her clothing closet, there was no doubt she had lost all that affection after she gained her wings. Teenagers could be cruel, after all. To think of her losing everything—her friends, status, and popularity, made Speedy feel a sharp pang of sympathy with Bumblebee. No one could say it had been easy dealing with all that.

"Yeah…I guess you're right Waterboy," said Speedy, scuffling his feet against the pink shag, "stupid gay floor."

He frowned angrily, kicking it but ending up tripping himself and falling flat on his face. Aqualad laughed goodheartedly.

"Come on you spaz," he said, "let's get outta here."

"Hey, look!" Speedy pointed excitedly in the direction of Bumblebee's bed Aqualad bent down and followed his gaze. Something was gleaming from under her bed.

"What is that?" he squinted curiously.

"My mirror!" Speedy scrambled on the floor and extended his arm beneath the bed. He pulled out a yellow mirror, and hugged it like it was his one true love. Well, actually, it just might have been.

"This is sad." stated Aqualad.

"Shut up," barked Speedy, "this was the whole reason we were in here in the first place!"

"Come on…" said Aqualad, grabbing Speedy by the scruff of his neck and dragging him towards the door. He was laying wet kisses on the glass, smooching his reflection lovingly.

"Oh my beautiful baby!" he cried happily, "I finally found you! I love you so much! Mwa, mwa, mwa!"

"Ew…" Aqualad shivered.

"Hey, if you were as sexy as me you'd understand…"

"Right," Aqualad said, sliding open the door, "and maybe if you—"

Aqualad dropped Speedy on the floor suddenly.

"Hey, what gives Waterboy?" asked Speedy in annoyance; he looked over his shoulder, "You—"

He didn't finish his sentence when he met the poisonous glare associated with his only female teammate.

"_Hello boys_."

END


End file.
